Background/Context: School districts are responsible for helping schools improve learning for students. However, many district initiatives conflict with each other or with existing instructional practices in schools. Recent research on urban school reform points to the value of program coherence in sustaining school change. Our paper addresses an…

This paper reports on a multiple case study of building administrators in a suburban school district in Oklahoma which implemented a unitary system of inclusion of students with disabilities in age-appropriate regular classrooms. The study focused particularly on how administrators developed shared meanings during the change process. Data were…

The National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion (NCERI) has conducted a nationwide study to identify where inclusion programs are taking place. Chief state school officers identified local districts in which inclusive education was taking place. These districts were then contacted requesting further information and this document…

An assessment of 14 school-university partnerships in the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER) is provided with a focus on achievement of partnership goals. Partnership goals include simultaneous school improvement and educator education. Methodology involved site observation and interviews with 126 school district and university…

Experiences of the Des Moines (Iowa) public schools as they work for educational improvement and school restructuring are described. The school system will be considered successful only if what is taught is learned at an acceptable level by all students. Restructuring is traced from its 1989 inception to the present. (SLD)

The Providence Blueprint for Education study (PROBE) gathered as much information as possible about the status of Providence (Rhode Island) schools, collecting data from parents, teachers, the government, school administrators, and the public to paint a broad picture of the schools and areas for improvement. Information was collected from the…

The issue of central interest in this book is not how many new policies have been approved or how many restructuring efforts are being undertaken, but rather what has actually changed in practice--if anything--as a result of change efforts. The book is divided into three main parts. Part 1, "Understanding Educational Change," provides an overview…

Through professional development schools (PDSs), the College of Education at Texas Tech University has attempted to link school and teacher education renewal with research. In 1990, the university and Lubbock Independent School District initiated PDSs at a junior high school and an elementary school. Three additional PDS sites have been initiated…

The goal of this guide is to provide information, support and practical tools that may help educators design, implement, and evaluate their school's standards-based education program. In order to work, a comprehensive, standards-based educational program must, by definition, be the organizing structure upon which the school program operates.…